Friday, 14 March 2014

We had our
doubts before traveling to Colombia. Is this country really safe enough for
tourists? Do you notice the activities of paramilitary groups and the FARC? How
about criminality in the city centers? The available information provides
rather contradictory signals. On the one hand the travel guides, like the
Lonely Planet, tried to convince us that Colombia is really safe and on its way
of becoming a normal tourist destination. This information emphasizes the
friendly character of the Colombians, the modernization of the country and the
success of anti-terrorism policies under Uribe and Santos. The quality of
long-distance travel is often emphasized – buses and domestic airlines – and
growing safety of the cities, although tourist are still advised to be careful.

The
available statistics speak another language, though. I calculated that living
in Colombia for three weeks is probably as dangerous as living in the
Netherlands for more than a year, in terms of the probability of being
murdered. Figures about traffic safety are alarming and suggest that the road
may be more dangerous that the FARC and the paramilitary forces combined.

The medical
information provided by the Dutch travel health organizations also tries to
scare people off: yellow fever, malaria and dengue constitute threats to the
lives of European tourists and the altitude of cities like Bogotá could make us
sick soon after we’d arrive in Colombia. We had our bags full of pills and had
our ‘necessary’ vaccinations.

But what
did we experience during the period of over three weeks we were traveling
through Colombia? First of all, like the Lonely Planet suggested, we generally
felt quite safe. In some areas you see many soldiers with impressive guns, but
these young soldiers were always friendly and helpful. There presence had a
reassuring effect rather than creating an atmosphere of tension. On the other
hand, it did tell us that real dangers always lure in the background.
Apparently you easily get used to this.

Colombia is
not a poor country, but the gap between rich and poor is extremely wide. It
belongs to the top-five countries in inequality. That’s something you feel
everywhere. The presence of private security, in addition to the military, in
shopping centers, bus stations and so on tells a story of unhealthy differences
and their consequences. The fact that our safety is always dependent on men
with guns, fences and cameras, is constantly somewhere in the background.

In general
people were quite honest. In cases where I gave 10.000 instead of 1000 pesos, I
was always corrected and no one ever took advantage of my mistakes. And most
people want to help and give foreigners a good time in their country, of which
they are proud. It helps a lot if you speak Spanish, as the level of English is
still low in the general population.

Most people
we met were friendly and not at all aggressive, but they tend to make a lot of
noise, especially when they are having fun. You notice this in long-distance
buses where loud South-American music is always part of the service, but also
in pubs and restaurants. Noisy entertainment also belonged to a boat excursion
we made in Cartagena. The emphasis was more on having a good – that is noisy –
time together on the ship than on the beautiful nature that surrounded us
during the trip. Colombians are good at partying, enjoying life together and as
a foreigner you’d better join in.

The health
situation of Colombia seemed quite good to us. Most regions have no malaria and
yellow fever. The precautions advised the Dutch authorities seem exaggerated,
except for those who actually visit the low and damp jungle areas in the Amazon
or along the Pacific coast. For a healthy person the altitude is no problem, if
time is taken to adapt.

What the
travel books don’t really tell you is the ugliness of the cities. Except for
very small ancient parts of city centers, the architecture and urban planning
of the cities seems to be an endeavor to create the most unattractive places on
earth and they succeeded excellently in this! There are some notable
exceptions, like Cartagena, which is really worth a few days’ visit. Also the
smaller towns like Villa the Leyva, Barichara and Salento are quite
interesting, though they tend to get overrun by tourism, turning them either
into a museum (Barichara) or into a cheap holiday resort (Salento). A town like
Popayán, which travel guides put on the same level as Cartagena, contains
really interesting architecture, but what the travel guides don’t tell you is
the high degree of pollution and noise in the streets by the traffic.

What should
get more emphasis in tourist information is the landscape between cities. We
traveled quite a lot in long-distance buses and had most impressive views in
the mountains, for example from San Gil to Bucaramanga or from Medellin to Cali.
These views come at a cost. Traveling by bus is both time-consuming with an
average of below 40 km/h and dangerous. Overtaking on narrow roads often leads
to dangerous situations and often such a maneuver gets broken off before it has
resulted in an accident. And so far, the Madonna whose image is often in the bus
has protected us, but from statistics we know that she does not always do
this…. Domestic airlines are a good an safe alternative – especially the
national airline Avianca – but you miss the views and the contact with the
environment.

There is
one thing for which you must not go to Colombia and that is the food. In the
cities there is good quality international cuisine, but the local kitchen is
rather tastless. And this also applies to the cheese that is added to almost
everything: an indefinite milk product without any character. Wine is
expensive: the Chilean wine is at least twice as expensive as in Europe. Beer
is good and affordable. Really good are the fruit drinks made from a great
variety of tropical fruits. A disadvantage is the fact that they are often
mixed with ice or water with unclear origins, which could explain our frequent
diarrhea during our Colombia travel.

Hotel
accommodation is good in Colombia and internet booking (booking.com etc.) quite
easy. Prices are definitely lower than in Europe, but if you want some comfort
and a good location, don’t expect low prices like in some parts of Asia.

The most
positive side of Colombia is its nature, of which we have still seen very
little. The differences between climate zones, related to altitude, creates an
extreme biodiversity, from tropical jungle, to cloud forests, the paramo and
glaciers. There are good possibilities for walking, from rather easy to very
difficult.

Concluding:
Colombia is certainly an attractive holiday destination, especially for the
friendly people, (parts of) old towns, magnificent landscapes and beautiful
nature.It’s safe enough to travel, if
you accept the dangers of traffic. Don’t pay too much attention to the ugliness
of the towns and try to enjoy the food in other countries. Don’t go without a
basic knowledge of the Spanish language.

About Me

With a background in sociology I have been active in management education, training and consulting for a long time. Change management, cross-cultural management and management skills are my favourite subjects.
I have always had a keen interest in languages and cultures. Teaching management in China, Yemen and Saudi Arabia turned this interest into a central theme for my work: cross-cultural HRM, cross-cultural communication.
How people deal with problems fascinates me. I don't believe in imposing simple solutions on complex situations. At the Open University I have contributed to the development of general management education that takes the complexity of management reality as a starting-point.
As a freelance trainer, consultant and speaker I continue to help people to deal with the complexity of organization and management.